Trust and Turnout : An Empirical Study of South African Voters

Scholars have proposed the idea that trust influences individuals’ choice to vote or abstain. However, there is uncertainty about the composition of trust and its effect on voter turnout. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between interpersonal and institutional trust and voter turnout in South Africa. Examining presently unused data for South Africa from the World Values Survey 2006 through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the argument is advanced that trust is a multidimensional concept that may be modelled by multivariate measurements. A logistic factor score regression model shows that a one-unit increase of trust in public institutions on average increases the odds of voting by 9 % whereas trust in private institutions and interpersonal trust have no significant effects. The results imply that trust- strengthening actions may be of interest to South African public institutions to increase electoral participation and legitimise election outcomes.